Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General marlin 1894c vs. Rossi 92

looking for a truck gun, plinking gun, no CAS, no competition, no big game, looking for a light, handy powerful rifle that will shoot 357/38.

would you go Marlin or Rossi? Design considerations, quality control, workmanship, metallurgy?

thanks,

Sycamore

I would, without doubt, choose the Marlin. Marlins are made right here in the US of A and have been for over a century. I have 3 Marlins and have no quality issues with any of them. Marlins are also designed so that mounting a scope, should you so choose, is a breeze.

Marlin 94.

I've had both. As far as quality and design, etc., it's a wash. The Marlin is made here, which is a big plus for me. The Marlin is side-eject, and so is easier to mount a scope on if you ever want to do that. I don't know about the new '92s, as far as whether they've got a safety or not. The Marlin's do, and I don't care for that feature-so that may be something to consider. They're about the same price.

Overall, just not much difference between the two.

But I am biased .
You have to try them side by side and go with the one that feels best for you. Add in the Made in the USA vs Brazil and the ease of take out one screw to remove the lever and bolt for cleaning .

I have both,but the Marlin is in 44 mag,I had a Rossi in 44 Mag also,now just the .357 Rossi. The Rossis are a might rough on the inside finish and to get them to feel good, they usualy need to be taken apart and smoothed up. I dislike the Marlin's fat forearm, but fixed that by restocking the whole thing.The safety can be fixed by just adding an o-ring to it to keep it always in the off position.I have never figured out why one would need a safety on a rifle wth hammmer on it.

Both brands shoot equally as far as accuracy from my experience.

Excellent assessment. I agree they are a bit rough on the interior. Mine needs some smoothing up. It's not in the same ballpark as my 1908 1892 Winchester.

Generally speaking, calibre for calibre, a Marlin will be more accurate than a Winchester .... or, presumably, a Winchester clone.

I have two Marlins but neither one is a 44.My nephew had the Rossi in 44 and I liked the gun.Now a friend of mine has it and he is very found of it.My favorite is the Browning 92(not made any more).I still have one in .357 and without a doubt is my favorite.You can still find them from time to time in 44 mag.Thats what I would go looking for.

I have had 2 Rossi's - one .357 and one .44. Left the 357 back in South Africa when I moved to NZ and sold the 44 when I was a poor student - loved both of them though. The 357 was a fantastic plinker - used light-ish handloads (about 38 special velocities) and had so much fun with it. Anyone that tried it ended up with a big smile on their face.

The 44 was fun as well but would have been much more pleasant with a rubber recoil pad instead of the steel buttplate as only used factory magnum loads through it. Both were 20 inch carbines. I would like to get another 44 mag lever action in the near future and like the Marlin for its ability to mount an XS rear sight further back than on the Rossi but like the idea of a compact 16incher which Marlin doesn't currently make in 44mag.

I don't think you could go wrong with either Marlin or Rossi...

Geeman I think you hit on an important point. I had a Rossi .44 Mag. carbine and I've fired a Marlin. The one thing that struck me about the Marlin was the recoil. Certainly it is no .458 Win. Mag., but the recoil was much more than I expected. I don't remember the Rossi's recoil being as pronounced. I've shot some pretty hot-loaded 44-40's in my current rendition of the Rossi and they are not bad. They're loaded to low-end .44 Mag. levels.

Make it a Marlin for me. I won't ever choose an import over an American classic. The '94 Marlin is incredibly easy to break down. You can completely remove the cross bolt safety and get a plug screw and install other goodies like a WWT.
If your lucky enough to find a Marlin Cowboy competition at a fair price all the better.

The only thing that had me thinking about the Rossi was that I have a 9422 and a 94 in 25-35, thought it might be nice to keep it all in the "Browning designed" family.

Of course I could get a 39A and a 336 and have another "family"!

thanks for the input. I will keep my eyes open.

Sycamore

I bought a Marlin 1894C awhile ago in .357 Magnum. Had a scope on it for awhile. I ended up taking it off and putting a Williams adjustable peep on it. I removed the insert on the front sight and replaced it with a fire sight insert. Dude! I have a nice quick aiming carbine I can use in heavy cover and lowish light. The scope threw the balance of the rifle way off. Fire sight makes a huge improvement.

I will advise you never to handle and shoot a Browning B92 in 357 or 44. If you ever do, you will never be satisfied with a Rossi or even a Marlin again. With that said, I prefer the Marlin over the Rossi. All of the Rossis I have owned or shot were very roughly finished as they came from the factory. I have shot a few that had lots of work done on them and they were very slick.

I own an 1894 in .44, and I have owned 94's in .357 and currently have a Interarms 92 in .357. Its one of the older models without the safety, and I have been very impressed with the fit/finish of the gun. Personally, I would have no problem buying one of the older 92 copies over a Marlin, especially if the price was right.

I own a Marlin 1894 in .45 Colt, and have shot it side-by-side with three different Rossies in .45. I preferred the Marlin by a large margin. The Rossies cycled quite roughly, and hung up several times. The Marlin was more accurate as well.

I'm with TnBigBore if you want a model 92 bet a Browning it's a lot nicer. If you don't want to spring for the higher bucks stick with the Marlin. Lots of advantages including solid frame, easy take down and cleaning, and accuracy. I've got the Marlin in 357, 44 mag and 45 Colt. You will be glad you went with the Marlin. If you haven't shot 357's in a rifle you've missed it. They really come into their own out of a rifle. Heck of a caliber.

I started looking at the lever guns a couple of years ago to prepare for the grandkids. I have since picked up 2 357/38s one with safety and one pre-safety plus one 44mag. My dad started me out on a marlin 30/30 36 years ago and my son has it and uses it now...Im sure either brand would be fine but I guess Im biased.